Page 3 of Yours, For Now

"The fact that we've won bids with them before doesn't guarantee—" I tried, but Tío Miguel interrupted.

"— I can call my friend that works there, confirm the parameters, and we're set."

I continued without taking a breath and without waiting a beat. "They'll do due diligence. They can't just award an RFP based on friendship—"

"— No, no, no. Lina, you don't know the industry—" Tío Miguel's voice got louder than mine.

"I've been in the industry for twelve years, I think I know it well by now—" I insisted.

"— But not as well as I do!" His hand turned into a fist.

"The industry's changing!" I hid my hand under the boardroom table. That way no one would see me doing the same in irritation.

"What do you know about that?!"

"Okay, okay, let's calm down." Dad put two hands up, each one facing one of us, me and my uncle. "We can do both. You can contact your friend, Miguel, and we can hear what Lina has to say. You have something to say, right?"

He cast his eyes at me, and the unaffected face didn't conceal the hint of doubt in his eyes. The rest of the people around us remained silent as usual, ignoring the loud voices or the way the light changed in the room, now that a building blocked the sun on its way down to the horizon.

I dug my nails into the flesh of my palm. "We need to find ways to stand out. We could do that by pushing accessibility goals for all infrastructure projects starting next year. I want to position us as leaders in that space. We can start with a smaller project like Thomson's."

Tío Miguel scoffed. "You and your obsession with finding a new niche. I've told you before, we need to cast a wide net. Infrastructure is niche enough."

"But how do we get people to notice us above other companies? What makes us special?" I wanted to drink more coffee, to soothe my throat and stop it from tightening up any further, but I didn't reach for my cup. Any lull would give mi tío a chance to overtake the conversation. "And you know I hope to expand to commercial infrastructure. Big projects included. Weneedsomething to make us more noticeable."

Tío Miguel shook his head. "It doesn't make sense. We've incorporated ramps in several of our semi-commercial designs. How can that be a niche?"

Temptation coated my tongue, and I almost talked about the importance of inclusivity, call him out for his ignorance, but I knew from experience that it would make us fight. If I wanted to effectively get my point across and get us closer to my goals, I needed to speak a language he understood. One he cared about. I allowed myself a sip of coffee, this time.

I unclenched my jaw to respond. "Accessibility is more complex than adding a ramp out of the way and out of sight. We can make sure to make it part of the design and architecture of the place, make itbelongin the space, like it's on purpose. We can scale that expertise to bigger projects, too. Our clients could capitalize on that as a marketing point."

"We don't need a niche," Tio Miguel said. "We have a reputation."

"And yet our income has declined." I glared at my dad's brother. "We've lost more projects than we ever have."

Tío Miguel's brown skin darkened, the effect of an angry blush on him. He didn't like it when I pointed out our current financial stress. I knew this, and yet I wouldn't skirt around the issue. Tío Miguel could keep up his hopes that his son would one day decide to take over the business, but I wouldn't give up that easily. I needed to protect the company as much as I wanted to prove I was the right person for the job.

If there was one thing I had learned growing up in my family and working in this business, it was to be strong. To endure my family's machismo and remain standing. His explosion wouldn't make me back down. I steeled myself in preparation for his outburst, turning my veins into rebar.

My dad had to have noticed the building eruption of Tío Miguel's anger. He pushed a hand forward between Tío and I as if to grab our attention, like we were two kids about to fight over a toy. He locked eyes with me. "Bueno, bueno, there's no need to go there. We're still doing fine. Why don't you put it all on paper, create a proposal, and show us what that would look like?"

This time, when I reached for my coffee, I did so to drown my own rage. This is what they did when they wanted to shut me up, they told me to write it down and they'd look at it later. My last proposal still gathered dust on my dad's desk. Two shots of espresso and water wouldn't suffocate the gunpowder building in my gut, but I had to try. Or I'd burn all bridges and leave in the glory of fire.

I nodded, if only so he would point his pitying eyes away from me.

If only my father believed enough in me to leave me his share in the company. He had the majority of them in the family business, and the only reason Tío Miguel had more power was because he was older, louder, and owned the remaining minority. And every time Dad tried to pacify his brother, he ended up dismissing me. Like he had every time he said he'd read my proposals.

This time it would be different. I would take it a step further. I had reached out to Gabriel's assistant earlier in the day, and had scheduled a meeting with him for the following week.

If I couldn't shake my dad— and uncle— out of this pattern of ours with this proposal, involving a whole other company, then I might have to ask myself some hard questions about my future that I'd rather not face.

Chapter 3

"Thereyougo,Gabe."Jake entered my office in all his imposing size, two cups in hand.

My best friend since childhood left a mug full of steaming coffee on my desk, and dropped his big Scottish body into one of the chairs in front of my desk.

"Thanks." I grabbed the mug without looking and almost burnt my fingers. I hissed.